Getting numbers settled.

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Ok so think I'm getting there but not quite ready to let go of the lifeboat just yet. Tempest sends purrs and thanks too!


Going to check in AMPS & PMPS to make sure I'm doing the dosing right. Thanks for your patience and input.
My brother (I owe him so much money lol) has ordered the syringes Alexi recommended so .25u will be easier for me when they arrive.

Amps was 360 and I gave 1/2 u will come home at lunch for a bg check as working today.
 
Pmps argh high again. 482! Given 1/2 unit.

Spoke to my vet again today about the low number the other night. And it was suggested 1/2 a unit once a day.. I didn't think a once a day shot would work!! Had to chuckle as was asked for bg numbers.. After being told not to bother. Anyway sticking to the sliding dose as recommended! Sadly didn't get a nadir reading at lunch. :( will get one @ 3+ Tonight.

Just to note feeding Sheba fine flakes in jelly that I got yesterday and she's finally starting to eat again rather than just plain chicken fillets. Maybe that has something to do with the higher numbers.
 
And it was suggested 1/2 a unit once a day.
You are right. Once a day usually doesn't work because of the cat's fast metabolism. Once a day dosing usually leads to a roller coaster ride of highs and lows for the cat when the goal is to keep them in as normal a range as possible for as many hours a day as possible.

I am not familiar with that food. Do you know the carb % in the Sheba? If Tempest has been eating plain chicken fillets, there may very well be more carbs in the Sheba that she is reacting to and if that's the case, it might also account for those lower numbers. This is the challenge sometimes when kitty gets finicky and suddenly doesn't want the food they normally eat.

I'd watch her for a day or so on the Sheba and if need be, you can always up the insulin a bit.
 
Hopefully Tempest will clear the bounce shortly. This is now 6 cycles since that 50 so if she read the manual :rolleyes: she should be clearing the bounce.

Funny with your vet asking YOU for the numbers. Once a vet sees the spreadsheets and how the CG is doing they often are quite impressed. The first time I e-mailed my S/S to the vet..just before an appointment..she told me she loved the colour coding and it gave such a good picture on how my kitty was doing and this was after she said that maybe I shouldn't home test as much :banghead:
 
You are right. Once a day usually doesn't work because of the cat's fast metabolism. Once a day dosing usually leads to a roller coaster ride of highs and lows for the cat when the goal is to keep them in as normal a range as possible for as many hours a day as possible.

I am not familiar with that food. Do you know the carb % in the Sheba? If Tempest has been eating plain chicken fillets, there may very well be more carbs in the Sheba that she is reacting to and if that's the case, it might also account for those lower numbers. This is the challenge sometimes when kitty gets finicky and suddenly doesn't want the food they normally eat.

I'd watch her for a day or so on the Sheba and if need be, you can always up the insulin a bit.

Yes it's on the uk food list, I got a mc food as well and a high carb in gravy just in case. I am feeding the poultry selection as from yesterday. Today is the first I've seen her eat much she ate a whole pouch!
image.jpeg
 
Hopefully Tempest will clear the bounce shortly. This is now 6 cycles since that 50 so if she read the manual :rolleyes: she should be clearing the bounce.

Funny with your vet asking YOU for the numbers. Once a vet sees the spreadsheets and how the CG is doing they often are quite impressed. The first time I e-mailed my S/S to the vet..just before an appointment..she told me she loved the colour coding and it gave such a good picture on how my kitty was doing and this was after she said that maybe I shouldn't home test as much :banghead:

:joyful: I had to pause for a moment to let it sink in as they were so against me doing it in the first place! So I brought up my ss and off we went lol thankfully I was on the phone or they would have seen my expression! Haha there's hope yet maybe!

I hope she does I did make a mistake yesterday with her food though after just reading through that list.. and she got med carb at one point she didn't eat it all but it probably didn't help... :/
 
I laughed at my vet about the SS too. The first time I showed her, she asked what all the colours were and I was so new I really didn't know if there was a real meaning to them or if it was just to show patterns (which it is) and then told me I didn't need to test as much too! Fast forward and the last time I took a copy with me to Menace's yearly exam, vet wanted to keep the hard copy to show others! Thought it was the cat's meow! :rolleyes:
 
I laughed at my vet about the SS too. The first time I showed her, she asked what all the colours were and I was so new I really didn't know if there was a real meaning to them or if it was just to show patterns (which it is) and then told me I didn't need to test as much too! Fast forward and the last time I took a copy with me to Menace's yearly exam, vet wanted to keep the hard copy to show others! Thought it was the cat's meow! :rolleyes:

Not sure it will ever come to that!

Ok so we are crashing again!!! 77 at +3 :(
 
Hi Tara, I think maybe the dosis is a little to high because the preshot nr is 26.8 and now +3 4.3mmol. Maybe start the next dosis lower, 0.25u? And stick with it for 3 cycles ? And I think the bouncing will stick now for a couple cycles, I see Tempest is a little all over the place :rolleyes: hihi. It happens! No worries, just need to get Tempest steady with a dose that is great for both pre shot numbers..
 
Hello and thanks for jumping in! We just started the insulin last week, it's been so hard to get it right, we thought a sliding scale would work a bit better for her, Ie shoot 0.25 at 250 or under and 1/2 u over 300 .. Wondering if the new food is causing it?
 
It can be the food, I do know Sheba but never used it with my kitty Baco (i give her raw food) but it can be the food.
One week? That's good, the numbers can be all over the place, the body needs to get used to the insulin. Sliding scale can help but because you just started I wouldn't recommend it because you haven't got a lot of data yet. If you stick to a dose for 3 cycles (only if the numbers are shootable ofcourse and not too low) than you can stick to a dose. If you try a lower dose than you will probably get 2 shootable pre shot numbers and that can keep the numbers stable, I hope it makes sense? :)
 
Yes 5 days, and I'm not sure I can manage another sleepless night :( ...

My syringes should be here tomorrow (I hope) with easier markings to give lower doses. But now I've to start from the beginning again? :banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
Hey Tara, you can do this okay? We all had those days/nights/weeks. But why can't you sleep? You need some sleep! Please lower the dose as from tomorrow so it can give you a more safe feeling and then you can get some rest okay? I had the same in the beginning with Baco (my kitty) i was constantely worried about her, and if she wasn't giving me a hypo or something in the middle off the night, I know it's scary... But if you lower the dose you can easily get some sleep, you sound like you need it Tara!
I see you life in the UK, so it's past 12:00AM now I think right? Please, give Tempest some high carbfood so his numbers will go up and you can have a decent sleep.
We will talk tomorrow okay? If you need any advice, people are online 24/7 here. And i'm here on 'your' time because I life in the netherlands so it's 1 hour later here!
@Marlena is also in UK so is around at our time.
:bighug:
 
Need to make sure she is ok - Tempest that is. I can't just give food and go sleep I would be worrying and wouldn't sleep anyway. I will go test her again she's eaten some of her low carb food about 20 minutes ago as it was in her bowl.

It's 11.30pm here at the minute. So not too bad.

What do you mean by this?

That she just finished a bounce and is now going to bounce again.
 
No I didn't meant to go to sleep after giving food, ofcourse test indeed but if the numbers go up you can catch some sleep.
Oh that's what you mean, she was bouncing indeed and probably can again because of this big drop from being in 20s going all the way down to 4.3. If you get 3 test every 20 minutes and she goes up in numbers you can give yourself some rest, if you know what i mean!
 
No I didn't meant to go to sleep after giving food, ofcourse test indeed but if the numbers go up you can catch some sleep.
Oh that's what you mean, she was bouncing indeed and probably can again because of this big drop from being in 20s going all the way down to 4.3. If you get 3 test every 20 minutes and she goes up in numbers you can give yourself some rest, if you know what i mean!

Ahh ok I wondered about that.
Yep so back to the beginning again now, I'm really discouraged. I seem to take a step forward and then take two back.
I don't think she will allow a test every 20 minutes but am going now to do one so that will be 1 hour since the 77 as it takes me a while to do it - she's not keen on the ear prick bless her!
 
I get that you are discouraged Tara, we all have been in the beginning. But please give yourself some slack here, you're doing great with Tempest and you will get there but insulin is not a wonder thing that works instantely and gives you great numbers (for example check Baco's ss, it wasn't great the first weeks, almost only high numbers and couldn't get it down) it needs to be worked by the cats body in combination with the food (low carb) and give it some time then you will get there.
You're doing great Tara!
I get that Tempest isn't fond off the ear prick haha but they will get used to it, some quicker than others.
I will keep an eye out on your topic, for now i'm going to sleep, almost 1am here.. Have a good night Tara, get some sleep! :bighug:
 
I get that you are discouraged Tara, we all have been in the beginning. But please give yourself some slack here, you're doing great with Tempest and you will get there but insulin is not a wonder thing that works instantely and gives you great numbers (for example check Baco's ss, it wasn't great the first weeks, almost only high numbers and couldn't get it down) it needs to be worked by the cats body in combination with the food (low carb) and give it some time then you will get there.
You're doing great Tara!
I get that Tempest isn't fond off the ear prick haha but they will get used to it, some quicker than others.
I will keep an eye out on your topic, for now i'm going to sleep, almost 1am here.. Have a good night Tara, get some sleep! :bighug:

Thank you for your support Ruby :) she's gone up .3 so hoping it continues I've given her more low carb food now. :bighug:
 
It looks like she is headed up slowly when it is great. Those two greens are very nice numbers. If she continues up, you should be able to get some sleep tonight?

Yes, she seems to be bouncing for preshots, but in general, for most of the cycle, she is in good numbers. I know it feels like a roller coaster, but she is trending down and looking good!
 
It looks like she is headed up slowly when it is great. Those two greens are very nice numbers. If she continues up, you should be able to get some sleep tonight?

Yes, she seems to be bouncing for preshots, but in general, for most of the cycle, she is in good numbers. I know it feels like a roller coaster, but she is trending down and looking good!

Yes when she hits blue I will be ok with that, my thought was that as she's on her way down and has two hours yet to drop to nadir it will take small amounts of food to keep her up? I went for the low carb this time instead of reaching straight for the strong stuff in the hopes it will cause less of a bounce and give me truer numbers? Or maybe not? I'm thinking that's logical and felt that at 77 I had a bit of leeway? (Sure hope I'm right...

Should I stick with the sliding scale or drop her to .25 for 3 or 4 days, get some stabilisation happening and adjust from there? Again seems logical to me but I don't know enough yet to be certain about these kinds of calls.. My syringes should be here tomorrow or the next day so it would mean I could adjust by tiny increments if I can just get a couple of baseline days.
 
Yes, I'd continue to give her little bits of regular food. You want three rising tests.

Lowering the dose to 0.25 would be fine for the pinks. 0.5 looks like it worked well for the red pmps.

You get to choose. You can slow this down, giving less insulin that likely will result in a little higher/flatter midcycle numbers. Or you can be a little more agressive, getting her in lower numbers. That approach will likely mean more tests and less sleep, but might mean faster remission. There is no right or wrong approach - it is what you are comfortable with.
 
Yes, I'd continue to give her little bits of regular food. You want three rising tests.

Lowering the dose to 0.25 would be fine for the pinks. 0.5 looks like it worked well for the red pmps.

You get to choose. You can slow this down, giving less insulin that likely will result in a little higher/flatter midcycle numbers. Or you can be a little more agressive, getting her in lower numbers. That approach will likely mean more tests and less sleep, but might mean faster remission. There is no right or wrong approach - it is what you are comfortable with.

See to me that was a massive drop, too fast from the red pmps? I'm not getting this too well as in understanding it I think, don't I want a slow steady drop?

I see patterns in her cycles but they don't look like good ones to me?
 
It was a pretty fast drop. But if she will slowly rise and stay in nice numbers, it isn't bad. Yes, ideal is a slow drop and a slow rise. But they seldom do the ideal.:p The more she gets used to the insulin and her body learns how to use it, the more "normal" her numbers will be. At this point, I just don't want you to miss that she is in good numbers generally, on a tiny dose of insulin. Yes, it is nerve wracking because she doesn't always react the way we would think she might or want, but she is in good ranges and doing well.
 
It was a pretty fast drop. But if she will slowly rise and stay in nice numbers, it isn't bad. Yes, ideal is a slow drop and a slow rise. But they seldom do the ideal.:p The more she gets used to the insulin and her body learns how to use it, the more "normal" her numbers will be. At this point, I just don't want you to miss that she is in good numbers generally, on a tiny dose of insulin. Yes, it is nerve wracking because she doesn't always react the way we would think she might or want, but she is in good ranges and doing well.

lol 'they seldom do the ideal' swear this kitty is going to be the death of me I'm sure that's now 20 years off my life! See I'm glad you said that, when I'm looking at her numbers they look dreadful to me! I've been looking at people's ss's and hers looks awful compared to others. Although to be fair (hope I don't jinx this) she's not often in the red (thank goodness)

I know it will vary from cat to cat but generally whats the average time it takes for cats to get used To insulin?

I will have to go retest it's been about an hour since her last one.
 
Glad you're getting some sleep! She really is looking good, Tara. Trust us. Some cats arrive here in high numbers that last for the whole cycle...She is going down during her cycles. Sure, maybe a little faster than we want, but she is responding to the insulin and that's good. As Sue said, this is your choice...you hold the syringe. In the end, you HAVE to be comfortable with what you give.
 
Hey Tara, you can do this okay? We all had those days/nights/weeks. But why can't you sleep? You need some sleep! Please lower the dose as from tomorrow so it can give you a more safe feeling and then you can get some rest okay? I had the same in the beginning with Baco (my kitty) i was constantely worried about her, and if she wasn't giving me a hypo or something in the middle off the night, I know it's scary... But if you lower the dose you can easily get some sleep, you sound like you need it Tara!
I see you life in the UK, so it's past 12:00AM now I think right? Please, give Tempest some high carbfood so his numbers will go up and you can have a decent sleep.
We will talk tomorrow okay? If you need any advice, people are online 24/7 here. And i'm here on 'your' time because I life in the netherlands so it's 1 hour later here!
@Marlena is also in UK so is around at our time.
:bighug:
Hello girls,
I'm sorry but I did not see your post and wasn't aware that Ruby tagged me.
Let me just quickly read the post and I will offer some support after.:bighug:
 
Glad you're getting some sleep! She really is looking good, Tara. Trust us. Some cats arrive here in high numbers that last for the whole cycle...She is going down during her cycles. Sure, maybe a little faster than we want, but she is responding to the insulin and that's good. As Sue said, this is your choice...you hold the syringe. In the end, you HAVE to be comfortable with what you give.

Now I've had a bit of sleep. I think I'm looking at it the wrong way, I assumed that I had to get a gradual reduction to yellows and blues before the blues and greens or something. And to get it stabilised faster rather than be aggressive about it.. So I got that wrong. I'm still desperately trying to avoid hypos the thought scares the Xyz! Out of me.

So she's in the black. Which is new. Or is this still the bouncing? I'm going to give the 1/2 again this morning and try to check her at lunch - although depends on how busy it is at work but will do my best or at the very least look in on her even if I don't have enough time to test.
I will leave a pouch of low carb food out for her while I'm at work so she has it. I've noticed she seems to eat more when her numbers come down quickly.
 
Dear Tara,
I totally understand your emotional state.
To put it in perspective - I was like that and most of the members who treat their cats so we know how you feel!
I would like to suggest that you write a big note and place it in a visible place in your house : IT IS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME!
Try to find some ways of realising your stress because when you in an emotional roller coaster you kitty would sense that and you won't be able to think rationally.
I've been dealing with Rocky's diabetes for over 2 years and he was in remission twice, last bout of FD is a year long battle but it looks like we are heading in the right direction now.
As other members mentioned there is no average here: ECID and there are surprises all the way through to remission. Please look at spreadsheets of other cats, it will give you an insight how different things can be.
Tara, I think that one of the most important things, when you first start treating your cat is to be aware that you really don't know how your cat's biology is going to use insulin so the idea is to slowly introduce insulin and observe what happens. I think sticking with 0.25 units for 6 cycles (3 days) in the beginning is a sensible one. When your cat drops to below 3.7 on AlphaTrak it means that the dose might be too high and you will see a bounce next day which can last for next couple of days. You should take action and lower the dose despite the high numbers during the bounce. If your cat doesn't drop much on a given dose and you don't see a very low nadir and you still get high numbers next day or so it might mean that your cat is still bouncing but from the numbers which are lower that the cat is used to and you can ignore the bounce and either carry with the dose or slightly increase it. So basically your cat has to get used to lower numbers brought on by providing exogenous insulin. During this journey you will see different numbers and patterns but sometimes it does not make sense, sometimes we simply don't know what's going on. That's why we need to do things slowly.
Tara, read as much as you can on this website, the information here is invaluable and will make you more confident. We are here to help you make decisions so you're not on your own - ask as many questions as you need to.
Tara, breath, count to 1000 or watch comedy just to help you to stay in a positive frame of mind! I know how difficult it is, my life has been turned upside down because of my cats diabetes!
Lots of hugs to everybody
Marlena & Rocky:cat::cat::cat:
 
Now I've had a bit of sleep. I think I'm looking at it the wrong way, I assumed that I had to get a gradual reduction to yellows and blues before the blues and greens or something. And to get it stabilised faster rather than be aggressive about it.. So I got that wrong. I'm still desperately trying to avoid hypos the thought scares the Xyz! Out of me.

So she's in the black. Which is new. Or is this still the bouncing? I'm going to give the 1/2 again this morning and try to check her at lunch - although depends on how busy it is at work but will do my best or at the very least look in on her even if I don't have enough time to test.
I will leave a pouch of low carb food out for her while I'm at work so she has it. I've noticed she seems to eat more when her numbers come down quickly.
Tara,
it looks like classic bounce! Don't worry, now we need time, we need to wait for the bounce to clear - few days of biting your nails!
It looks to me that Tempest is a low dose kitty, maybe the 0.5 u is too high?
Let's wait and see.
 
Tara, a concept of "bounce" as we call it here is quite difficult to accept but it is a normal reaction. It is a protective function. When an organism sense something artificially and exogenously interfering with its function the natural process of counteracting it takes place.
So, by giving insulin and lowering the glucose, you create a different state for your cat and because prior to treatment your cat's glucose was high and now it's much lower the body thinks there is a problem and starts to counteract and produce more glucose until it accepts that there is no threat and everything balances itself. That's a very simplistic way of explaining the process but we don't want to be too technical, the idea is to actually grasp and accept that this is more less what's happening.
So breath and ask and read and etc ...
Hugs:bighug:
 
So now I need to decide on dosing tonight, she's @ 356 pmps - I checked her at lunchtime and she was in good form, had something to eat and no sign of her dropping low @+3.5 although I didn't get time to measure her bg... and she's finally eating! She had lunch today as well, and now I'm loathe to change from 0.50u because she's got that 5 times in a row now and is coming down. Another adjustment at this stage I'm not sure about? Do I shoot the .50u...
I'm off for the next 2 days so can monitor her this evening later.
 
@Marlena
It's not just kitty that's got me stressed right now. Lol my whole life is a melting pot of Stress unusually so. It will calm down in time I just have to get through these big things and everything else is waiting a bit, unless it's urgent.

I got home from work and read a good bit, it seems to be many folk are of the opinion of treating it aggressively at the beginning to get faster remission.
I'm understanding more about the bouncing thing I think. So if I read it correctly if the cat bounces on one dose it's because it's body used to higher numbers and if you give more insulin it causes the cats body to counteract it and bring the numbers back to where it's body is used to.
Therefore you need to allow the cats system to get used to the insulin bringing the numbers down artificially.
So giving the lower dose means it allows the bounce to happen while still keeping insulin in the cats system or something along those lines.

I know Tara, I feel for you but I also feel very positive that you'll manage FD very well and get your kitty healthy again in no time! Fingers and paws crossed!
:kiss::kiss::kiss:

I'm hoping so too! Providing I don't mess up!

Ok going with the 0.25 since she's pink :)
 
Either dose is fine, Tara, because you will get good data either way. If she is little high and flat, then you can give 0.5 on that preshot next time. If she drops but has a little room to drop lower, then try a fat 0.25 next time. If it gives her a lovely nadir, then you know it's a good dose next time you get a number in that range.

Just keep muttering to yourself - "gathering data, gathering data"
 
Either dose is fine, Tara, because you will get good data either way. If she is little high and flat, then you can give 0.5 on that preshot next time. If she drops but has a little room to drop lower, then try a fat 0.25 next time. If it gives her a lovely nadir, then you know it's a good dose next time you get a number in that range.

Just keep muttering to yourself - "gathering data, gathering data"

:) my syringes aren't here yet to let me give the smaller doses so have to eyeball it, filling the syringe to .50u and then squeezing half of it out. Hoping tomorrow! They are being delivered to my work as always someone there and will get a message to go pick them up. I can't wait until I have more precise dosage control.

I'm going to test at +3 tonight and see what I get and hopefully get her nadir tonight too! I'd love a nadir reading tomorrow daytime as can't get time during my lunch break to do a bg.
Haha the data is really my priority right now!

What's a fat 0.25?
 
YourU100s will let you be more precise but without them, some people shoot fat and skinny doses. To do a fat dose, pull up more than the dose (like pull up 0.5 and let out enough so you have a little more than 0.25 to shoot a fat 0.25). To do a skinny dose, pull up 0.25 and let out a drop. Very imprecise, but sometimes helpful.

You'll love being able to shoot 0.1/0.2/0.4 doses.
 
I'm reading but it's late (I can't sleep due to stress) so I can't be of any help right now, really sorry.
Tomorrow - very busy, that's life.
I know Tara how you feel. If you have a lot of stress in your life at the moment and you also have to do this very difficult journey of FD - it is very hard.
I've been there.
I'll be for you as much as I can.
Sending hugs and healing vines.
Marlena:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Rough night.. Didn't manage to get a single test because Tempest would not let me near her. Tried everything - playing with toys, food, etc - been up all night with her and dozed inbeteeen checking her and trying to test.

Managed it this morning only because I held her and I didn't want to go down that route. Going to post for help on the main health forums.

This Morning she's @272 so giving 0.25 again. This is the first yellow number I've seen for a few days. Praying I can get a test today at +3 just to see what's going on.
 
Rough night.. Didn't manage to get a single test because Tempest would not let me near her. Tried everything - playing with toys, food, etc - been up all night with her and dozed inbeteeen checking her and trying to test.

Managed it this morning only because I held her and I didn't want to go down that route. Going to post for help on the main health forums.

This Morning she's @272 so giving 0.25 again. This is the first yellow number I've seen for a few days. Praying I can get a test today at +3 just to see what's going on.
This is excellent!
If you reduce the dose and you are getting lower numbers that probably means that for now smaller dose is better. Well done.
Poor you Tara, you must be so tired! If on the 0.25 units you don't get nadir which is very low that's a more safe situation and you can sleep. Hold the dose for now and see what numbers you will get today.
Breath.
Sorry if I'm not saying much more but I'm very tired and very busy on top of that but I'll be checking on your situation as much as I can.
You are doing a really good job!:):):)
 
YourU100s will let you be more precise but without them, some people shoot fat and skinny doses. To do a fat dose, pull up more than the dose (like pull up 0.5 and let out enough so you have a little more than 0.25 to shoot a fat 0.25). To do a skinny dose, pull up 0.25 and let out a drop. Very imprecise, but sometimes helpful.

You'll love being able to shoot 0.1/0.2/0.4 doses.

Ahh these needles are u40 as well but marked in small increments
https://www.vetuk.co.uk/insulin-syr...nsulin-syringe-with-needle-box-of-100-p-11335

Im really looking forward to getting them. Not something I ever thought I would say about syringes lol

I'm reading but it's late (I can't sleep due to stress) so I can't be of any help right now, really sorry.
Tomorrow - very busy, that's life.
I know Tara how you feel. If you have a lot of stress in your life at the moment and you also have to do this very difficult journey of FD - it is very hard.
I've been there.
I'll be for you as much as I can.
Sending hugs and healing vines.
Marlena:bighug::bighug::bighug:

hi Marlena I hope you got some sleep and your stress is a little better this morning! :bighug: :bighug: Thank you I appreciate it, at my lowest point today (probably due to the lack of sleep) anyway getting a cup of tea and being gentle with myself for a few hours before it starts again.
 
Tara, darling, I really know how you feel.
I hope it helps.
I promise you things will get better soon.
Take as much rest as you can. Tempest loves you and knows you are saving his life!
Hugs:bighug::cat::bighug:
 
OH my goodness! 2 yellows!!! This morning and +3.5 (can't figure out how to add the @3.5 and get it coloured in on the ss) Please please please.... Let it keep going this way.
 
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